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Ostentia: A Political History
Ostentia: A Political History is a text produced by Commoncold0, detailing the political history of Ostentia, from its inception in late 2007 to the modern day. Chapter 1: The Balancing Act From the creation of Ostentia until the end of the 2nd Pokemaniac John Government, Ostentian politics can be seen as a balancing act, with the country alternating between two Prime Ministers, leading two different parties and representing two fundamentally opposed forces: moderation and radicalism. Leading the forces of moderation was Pokemaniac John. The details of Pokemaniac John's early career are unknown, although he is believed to have originated from Democratia, where he served in a number of government positions. During the years following Democratia's collapse, Pokemaniac John settled in the Northern Isles and following unification, he founded The Fruit & Veg = Perfection Party , which quickly became one of the two main parties in Ostentia. Although officially the party had a strong ideology of vegetarianism, in practice the party was a loose coalition of moderate politicians with no overall political philosophy. Facing Pokemaniac John and his moderate coalition was Inevitable, leader of the Boo Party. Like Pokemaniac John, Inevitable was also a Democratian politician, although again the details are vague. What is known is that by the time of unification, Inevitable had risen to the rank of Acting Supreme Leader of the Boo Party in Boondoxia, which quickly merged with all the other left wing parties to form the Boo Party of Ostentia. While the Boo Party may not have had the communist ideology it officially claimed to have, it was nevertheless a party of the left and, as Ostentia developed, the party became known for its radical policies. Above all, it was not afraid of controversy. The differences between the two parties were slight at first, but grew as Ostentia's problems increased. At the same time, the two parties became more adversarial, the first clear sign of this occurring after the Northern Isles was devastated by a series of storms in November 2007. The newly re-elected F&V=P government proposed a budget to deal with the crisis, only for the Boo opposition to twice reject it on minor issues, exasperating the crisis and fueling Northern Isles nationalism. With each side accusing the other of playing party politics, the Boo Party began to advocate even more radical policies, while more and more the F&V=P Party felt it had a duty to oppose these policies. As the two parties clashed over Aspar and Woism, the idea of two forces, embodied in two parties, became stronger and stronger, and there was almost a sense that the two parties were destined to alternate between government and opposition. With a moderate party and a radical party, it was felt that there was a natural balance in the party system. However, if when the F&V=P Party lost office in March 2008, they expected to be returned to power at the next election, they were mistaken - the party would never again win an election in its own right. The old, comfortable two party system of moderation and radicalism was about to come to an end.